New Jersey is not the first state to take this zig-zagging path, with Republican governors in Louisiana and Arizona among those who have disavowed the standards in midstream.

But in other states that embarked on reviews like the one called for by Christie, the end result has mostly been standards similar to the Common Core – just rebranded as state-developed.

“My guess is that is what will happen in New Jersey,” said Patrick McGuinn, a politics professor at Drew University who closely follows federal education policy.

“Christie will appoint a high-profile commission to review the standards and make recommendations, and it will take long enough so that the politics around Common Core will have calmed down and/or Christie is out of the presidential race or out of the governor’s seat,” he said.